Reach vs Length - What's the difference?

reach | length | Related terms |

Reach is a related term of length.

As an acronym reach

is .

As a noun length is

the distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

As a verb length is

(obsolete) to lengthen.

reach

English

Verb

(es)

To extend; to stretch; to thrust out; to put forth, as a limb, a member, something held, or the like.

Hence, to deliver by stretching out a member, especially the hand; to give with the hand; to pass to another; to hand over.

To attain or obtain by stretching forth the hand; to extend some part of the body, or something held by one, so as to touch, strike, grasp, etc.

To strike or touch with a missile.

Hence, to extend an action, effort, or influence to; to penetrate to; to pierce, or cut, as far as.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.}}

To extend to; to stretch out as far as; to touch by virtue of extent.

* Milton

Thy desire leads to no excess / That reaches blame.

To arrive at by effort of any kind; to attain to; to gain; to be advanced to.

* Cheyne

The best account of the appearances of nature which human penetration can reach , comes short of its reality.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,

(obsolete) To understand; to comprehend.

* Beaumont and Fletcher

Do what, sir? I reach you not.

(obsolete) To overreach; to deceive.

(South)

To stretch out the hand.

To strain after something; to make efforts.

To extend in dimension, time etc.; to stretch out continuously ((past), (beyond), (above), (from) etc. something).

* 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 4:

The Thembu tribe reaches back for twenty generations to King Zwide.

(nautical) To sail on the wind, as from one point of tacking to another, or with the wind nearly abeam.

Usage notes

* In the past, raught'', ''rought'' and ''retcht could be found as past tense forms; these are now obsolete, except perhaps in some dialects.

Derived terms

* far-reaching * forereach * outreach * overreach * reachable * reach an early grave * reach for the stars * rereach *

Noun

(es)

The act of stretching or extending; extension; power of reaching or touching with the person, or a limb, or something held or thrown.

The fruit is beyond my reach .

to be within reach of cannon shot

* 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VI

and we have learned not to fire at any of the dinosaurs unless we can keep out of their reach for at least two minutes after hitting them in the brain or spine, or five minutes after puncturing their hearts—it takes them so long to die.

The power of stretching out or extending action, influence, or the like; power of attainment or management; extent of force or capacity.

* Hayward

Drawn by others who had deeper reaches than themselves to matters which they least intended.

* Alexander Pope

Be sure yourself and your own reach to know.

Extent; stretch; expanse; hence, application; influence; result; scope.

* Milton

And on the left hand, hell, / With long reach , interposed.

* Shakespeare

I am to pray you not to strain my speech / To grosser issues, nor to larger reach / Than to suspicion.

(informal) An exaggeration; an extension beyond evidence or normal; a stretch.

To call George eloquent is certainly a reach .

(boxing) The distance a boxer's arm can extend to land a blow.

An extended portion of land or water; a stretch; a straight portion of a stream or river, as from one turn to another; a level stretch, as between locks in a canal; an arm of the sea extending up into the land.

* Tennyson

The river's wooded reach .

* Holland

The coast is very full of creeks and reaches .

(nautical) Any point of sail in which the wind comes from the side of a vessel, excluding close-hauled.

(obsolete) An article to obtain an advantage.

* Francis Bacon

The Duke of Parma had particular reaches and ends of his own underhand to cross the design.

The pole or rod connecting the rear axle with the forward bolster of a wagon.

An effort to vomit; a retching.

Derived terms

* arm's reach * beam reach * boardinghouse reach * broad reach * dry reach * earreach * eyereach * gunreach * reach-around * reachless

Statistics

Anagrams

* * 1000 English basic words ----

length

English

Noun

(en noun)

The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

duration

* Robert Frost

Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length .

(horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.

(mathematics) Distance between the two ends of a line segment.

(cricket) The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.

(figuratively) Total extent.

the length of a book

Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.

a length of rope

Derived terms

* arm's length * at length * cable length * feature-length * floor-length * focal length * full-length * good length * go to great lengths * half-length * knee-length * lengthen * lengthful * length overall * lengthways * lengthwise * lengthy * line and length * null patch length * overlength * path length * screening length * short of a length * wavelength * zero-length launching

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To lengthen.

* 1599 , , XIV. 30:

Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.

Statistics

* 1000 English basic words